YANGON: Almost 50,000 people have been displaced by fighting in northern Myanmar after an alliance of ethnic armed groups launched an offensive against the military two weeks ago, the United Nations said Friday.

Fighting has raged across northern Shan state near the Chinese border in what analysts say poses the biggest military challenge to the junta since it seized power in 2021.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Arakan Army have blocked vital trade routes to China and say they have captured dozens of military outposts.

While the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said, “As of 9 November, almost 50,000 people in northern Shan were forced into displacement”, a resident said clashes continued on Friday in Hsenwi town, which sits on the important Muse and Chinshwehaw trade routes to China.

On the other hand, a resident of Shan state’s Lashio township said there was no fighting in the town, home to the military’s northeastern command, although the airport remained shut. “Town residents are going about their normal daily life although we heard some artillery shooting from outside of the town at night,” she said.

Internet and phone services were disrupted outside Lashio, hindering humanitarian responses to the fighting, UNOCHA said. Restrictions on transport and availability of cash were also hampering efforts by humanitarian groups to give out aid, it added.

A further 40,000 people have been displaced by clashes between the military and its opponents in neighbouring Sagaing region and Kachin state since early November, UNOCHA said.

The military has made little comment on the surprise offensive but the junta-appointed president warned this week that Myanmar could end up “split into various parts” if the military was unable to “manage” the fighting.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2023